Evie
by arosewithsteelthorns
Summary: They fell through the portal together. And now they must deliver Emma's baby together.
1. Chapter 1

A/N - Again, this story is worked on by both frenchgirl1981 and I :) We hope you enjoy it and please leave feedback 3

* * *

Emma stumbled over the uneven ground, one hand resting on her swelling bump and the other holding the stick tightly to help her walk easier. At first she had been dead set against the idea of using a stick like some old person, but that was five months ago, and now it was almost impossible to cover the rough terrain without it. In this situation, her pride was impractical, as Regina continually pointed out.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp twinge in her stomach. She winced before composing herself. _No. It's just a kick. Nothing more. It's too early for contractions._ Hesitantly, she took another step and released a breath she didn't know she'd even been holding. Nothing happened. Just a kick.

"Emma, are you alright?" asked Snow, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just… My back's a little sore, that's all," lied Emma, quickly.

"Oh, sweetheart, you should have said something. Come on, you have to sit down and rest. Regina, we need to stop!" said Snow, believing her daughter easily enough but her desire to protect her becoming stronger.

"Snow, she's pregnant, not a doll. We have to keep going. It's going to be dark soon," responded Regina with only slight exasperation. The months of having only Emma and Snow as companions combined with her worry for her son had made her rethink what to exert her energy on.

"Gina's right. We've not got time for this. We should keep moving," said Emma, quickly, not wanting to start an argument. Although they had grown less frequent, it was very easy to start one.

"Ok! But you have to take it easy, Emma. All this stress isn't good for the baby…" agreed Snow, reluctantly.

"As soon as we find Henry, everything will be fine."

"It's been five months, Emma… We have to wait until you have your child and then we have to kill Peter Pan," said Regina, wearily.

"How do we kill a shadow?"

"I don't know… With fire?"

Emma zoned out after that, as there was another pain in her stomach. Her two companions continued their rather civil debate about what their next steps should be. The outcome was the same as it always was; wander around daily, shelter by night, all the while trying to gain information about Neverland, the Lost Ones, Peter Pan and most importantly Henry's situation. However, Emma knew it was just a nicer way of saying that they were walking around aimlessly until she had the baby. There was nothing she hated more than being an invalid. They had to save her son before it was too late and here she was, about to have another child. Granted, there had been no sign of Henry or any other human life so far, so it might take more time than they thought to find and rescue him after the birth. But she knew if she wasn't pregnant, and therefore seen as a delicate leaf, they'd be able to hunt Peter down and kill to save their son.

"Emma, are you listening?" asked an irritated Regina.

"Don't talk to her like that!" retorted Snow.

"Well don't snap at me!"

The constant arguments, even if they were nothing major, were really getting on her nerves. She supposed her hormones were amplifying the annoyance of it, because she'd lived with it more easily in the first few weeks, when it had been even worse.

"It's going to storm," said Regina, pointing at the rapidly darkening sky "I'm sure there's a cave over there that we can take cover in for the night."

"Right. Let's go then," replied Emma, ignoring the slightly more painful contraction that came.

* * *

Before they'd even reached shelter, the skies opened and the warm rain cascaded down on them. And now, Emma sat on the floor of the cave as her mother fawned over her, draping a blanket over her shoulders. She felt like rolling her eyes but as much as she hated being smothered, she knew Snow was only trying to help her and make up for the time she lost mothering her. Regina had disappeared to find water and hopefully food almost as soon as they'd entered. The rain didn't bother her as much as it did Emma. She hated being wet whereas the older woman almost seemed to relish in it. Surprising, really, considering Emma would never have expected someone as impeccably dressed and formal to enjoy something so uncontrollable.

"Um, I'm just going to…" said Emma, indicating outside.

"Just stay close to the cave, Em,"responded Snow.

Emma moved quickly, well as quick as a heavily pregnant woman could, and rested her back against the cave, away from prying eyes. She pressed her hands to her belly as another contraction came. There was no denying it. The baby was coming soon. She couldn't hide it much longer either. Another contraction hit and she doubled over. _Get a grip, Emma_. _You've not even gone into proper labour yet_.

Realising that she'd been outside suspiciously long, she made her way back inside, using the wall to brace herself against the faster contractions. Sitting down once more and closing her eyes to collect herself, she heard Regina return. She looked up to see that she carried three full water bottles and two small rabbits, a hole burnt through each from the killer beams of magic. Mostly, they were able to find the necessary supplies and they'd all agreed to save Regina's magic for more desperate things, rather than something trivial like coffee. Although Emma had given in once and practically had to beg her before she conjured a mug. She blamed pregnancy cravings and not her addiction. Just as Regina turned to check on her, a fresh wave of pain washed over her. She must have shown some indication because the brunette frowned at her and slowly approached.

"What's wrong?" she asked, handing her a bottle which Emma took a gulp from.

."Nothing," she lied, weakly.

At that exact moment, her baby decided to show its impatience and she clenched her teeth. There was no way to hide it now. The contractions came in fast succession now, one almost every 30 seconds. Emma groaned in pain.

"SNOW!" shouted Regina, seeming so much more out of control than ever before "SNOW, for gods' sake get over here!"

"What it is?" she questioned with a glare which quickly disappeared as she saw her daughter.

Emma dug her nails into the loosely compacted ground and screwed her eyes shut. She cursed under her breath, which did little to help. God, she wished she was back in the hospital, like with Henry. With lots of trained midwives and at the very least some gas and air. She felt something wet run down her eyes and opened her eyes again.

"Her water just broke," stated Snow, rather obviously.

"Thanks for your wonderful insight, dear. I CAN SEE THAT!" said Regina, pointing to the corner of her shoe.

"Seriously, Regina, you care about a SHOE. My daughter is about to have a baby in the middle of nowhere and you are worried about A SHOE!"

Emma, at any other time would be immensely embarrassed, but as it was, with her whole body shrieking in pain, she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Snow, go and get some blankets and water," ordered Regina.

"You know nothing about giving birth. I've been through labour…" protested Snow.

"I know what I'm doing, Snow. Trust me. Just… please, go and get what I need," she said, tightly.

With a last glance at Emma, Snow ran off to get what was required, determined to get back as quickly as possible. Regina knelt beside Emma and lifted her long skirt (the only maternity thing Regina had managed to conjure for her) up. The blonde grumbled in protest but didn't try to stop her. She drew her knees up and spread her legs, remembering what the midwives had said during Henry's birth.

"Just keep calm, Emma," said Regina "We just have to wait."

"It's a bit hard to keep calm when you're about to give birth in the middle of Neverland in a freezing cave with no experienced doctors around!" retorted Emma, before she tried to alleviate the steadily worsening pain.

"Breathe," advised the queen softly "Just breathe."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - Thank you all so much for the reviews and favourites and alerts. It really motivated me to get this chapter up quicker :) Please review again! This is a kinda longer chapter so I hope you enjoy it. Flashbacks are in italics! I hope it is in character and realistic medically. But I found it quite difficult.

Much love, Rachel xxx

* * *

"I HATE HIM!" Emma grit out from behind clenched teeth.

"Calm down, dear," said Regina with the ghost of one of her famous smirks.

"AND HE'S LEFT ME. AGAIN!" she continued her rant, digging her fingers into the cracks in the rock, creating a far lesser pain in her chipped nails.

"He fell through a portal. You can hardly blame him for that," reasoned the queen.

"He never held on," growled the blonde.

Before she could say anything, Emma gave a loud gasp and tried to find more purchase for her hands, silent tears streaming down her face. Regina, without even thinking about it, reached forward and took Emma's hand in her own. The blonde clutched it desperately, squeezing with what felt like all of her strength. The brunette winced at the pain but chose not to comment. She didn't really have a right to, what with Emma going through labour, on her own again no less. She was all she had. And her mother.

"I NEED TO PUSH!" moaned Emma, unrelenting in the pressure she was applying.

Gently, Regina took her hand from her grip and swallowed her embarrassment before pushing Emma's knees further apart and looking to see what stage she was it.

"Not yet. The baby's not ready yet," replied Regina, regretfully.

"It is!" she protested, weakly.

"It's going to be ok, Emma. Your baby is going to come out and meet you. Just not now," finished Regina, her words holding both authority and softness, something only she could be capable of "Just hang on."

She rubbed Emma's leg in what she hoped would be a soothing gesture. _Come on, Snow, where are you_? There was only so much she could do. She'd never experienced labour first hand before. True, she'd read up on it extensively in the early days of the curse, hoping to have her own child until she found out she was infertile. But that didn't count for much now. She wiped her forehead and took a deep breath. _Right, delivering a baby. Shouldn't be too difficult_. After all, she had enacted the most powerful curse, absorbed deadly magical energy and survived for years with nobody around her. A baby was easy in comparison.

* * *

_"What the hell?" cursed Emma, looking around the forest in confusion. _

_"Magic…" stated Neal._

_"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock!" _

_"Well, it was!"_

_"I've grown quite used to magic since my son brought me here! I know how to spot it!"_

_"Emma… I'm sorry, you know. I never knew…"_

_"It doesn't matter, Neal. What's done is done."_

_"No, stop for a minute, Emma. Let me speak."_

_"Cora could be…"_

_"We're too far away to help them now anyway, Em. Cora's magic will have seen to that."_

_"Fine. Ok. You have five minutes."_

_"Thanks… Now, where to start…?"_

_"How about why you left me. You never even told me why."_

_"I was selfish. If I'd known about Henry…"_

_"So it's all about Henry… Never me…"_

_"I loved you, Emma, I did. But August… Pinocchio, he knew my secret. No good could come of it… I wanted to keep you out of the magical world as much as I wanted to stay out of it!"_

_"I waited for you. Every day. There was no way I'd EVER be able to raise a kid. I WAS JUST A KID TOO! Never had parents. Never had a good role model," said Emma, wiping the tears from her eyes "It broke my heart to sign those forms. But I had to do it to give him his best chance! If you'd been there…" _

_"Emma… I never knew."_

_"Because you never bothered to stick around long enough!"_

_"It was a year. I thought you'd get out, take the money… Start a new life somewhere." _

_"What money?"_

_"You… he didn't give you it?"_

_"August? No. I never saw him. Not until Storybrooke."_

_"I wanted what was best for you too, Emma. You have to believe me. I never wanted any of this…"_

_"Look. It's in the past, I… I'm over it. You have Tamara. I have my family."_

_"I don't love her, Emma… Not truly. Not like I loved… still love… YOU. How could I? What we had…?"_

_"A fling, Neal… What future could we have ever had together?"_

_"A good one! We were happy. I know we were happy!" he looked wounded, torn and tormented by the past. _

_"Yeah… I was the happiest I'd ever been. And who knows…? Maybe we could have had a future. A house, kids, grow old together… But we both had too many secrets and too much already decided for us." _

_Neal leant in, slowly at first, waiting… even wanting her to protest. This was wrong. He loved her but they couldn't do this. Tamara… She leant in and her lips pressed firmly against his and he forgot everything because this, this was 10 years ago when they were young and hopeful and happy. He kissed her back too because this was everything he had wanted since he had saw her again that day in Manhattan. But then the kiss wasn't enough and he pushed her down to the grass, landing on top of her. And she still didn't offer any objections. Because this was what she had always wanted. Ten years ago… Mind clouded with love. Blind, now forbidden love… _

* * *

Snow dabbed at Emma's forehead with a damp cloth, holding her hand tightly with her free one. Regina, sitting on her heels, gave quiet encouragements as she watched for any sign that it was time for the baby to be born. It must have been over an hour since the contractions had started to become more regular. And still no sign of the head.

"It hurts," moaned Emma.

"I know, sweetheart, I know it hurts," responded Snow, stroking her daughter's hair "But your child is going to arrive in the world soon."

"Henry was… quicker… this is a… girl," she said in between laboured breaths.

"We'll soon see," said Snow with a smile.

Regina rose from the floor, stretching her cramped muscles, and told them she was going to get some fresh air to clear her head. They nodded and she walked quickly from the cave, suddenly feeling very suffocated. What was she thinking? She couldn't deliver a baby. But then again neither could Snow because the second something went wrong, she would panic because Emma was her _child_. Mothers shouldn't deliver their child's baby. So that left her with absolutely no medical experience but the ability to work through panic. As if the worry of Henry being kidnapped for months wasn't enough…

* * *

_"Henry!" screamed Emma and Regina, simultaneously as they watched on in horror. _

_As Tamara and Owen jumped into the dangerously electric portal, the two women didn't think twice about sprinting as fast as they possibly could and launching themselves into the depths, praying that the portal hadn't closed. Emma had the prescence of mind to grab onto Regina's arm as they hit the surface and instead of being submerged under water, were sucked into the whirlpool, being lashed by the sheer force of the magic. _

_Suddenly, the green was gone and they were dropped brutally to warm sand. Emma coughed and cradled her sprained wrist to her chest. Being through a portal once before had done nothing to ease the violent nausea that hit her. Regina, a lot more used to this method of travel, stood shakily and looked over the horizon. _

_"Where are we?" asked Emma, coughing again._

_"Neverland," said Snow, before Regina could answer._

_The two women turned to face the other woman, under the impression that only the two of them had managed to jump through._

_"What are you…?" began Regina._

_"I couldn't lose you again, Emma. We might… We might not…" began Snow._

_"Return," finished the queen, bluntly "Once you set foot on Neverland's soil – or in this case sand – you can never leave." _

_"Brilliant. That makes this whole thing so much easier," drawled Emma, sarcastically. _

_No-one commented. _

* * *

A loud scream followed by extremely loud curses snapped Regina back to the current situation. Emma. She turned and returned to her legs without a word to either of them, looking once more. The head. The baby was crowning. She stared for several seconds, transfixed. This same woman had once gone through this to give her Henry. This wonderful process of bringing a new being to the world. Something no magic could accomplish. Something more magical than anything else.

"Regina! What's going on?" asked Snow, frantically, looking on helplessly as the pain clearly intensified for Emma.

"The baby's crowning," responded Regina, looking into Emma's eyes "You have to push."

"NO! NO! I CAN'T!" protested Emma, suddenly terrified.

"Emma, you have to," said her mother "She's coming now. You can't stop it."

"No! She can't be born here, Snow! She'll never leave!"

Regina sighed deeply. There was a look of wild terror in the blonde's eyes and she knew it was of utmost importance that the baby was born now or there would be complications.

"Emma Swan, this baby is ready to come now. It doesn't matter if she's born here. None of us can leave now anyway. Not yet. So you just concentrate on pushing!"

"Regina! She's scared! Don't…" snapped Snow, horrified.

"We're all scared, Snow!" countered the older woman "Being scared doesn't change the facts!"

"It's too dangerous here! She's safe in here with me!" Emma continued to protest.

"She wants to come and meet her mommy," Snow tried to coax her gently.

"Emma, please, you have to push. You don't have any time to waste on this," said Regina, sternly "Now you can start pushing and bring her into the world or I'll be forced to use magic unless you want something to go wrong!"

"YOU ARE NOT USING MAGIC ON MY BABY!" screamed Emma, hysterically "Magic always comes with a price! AND SHE WILL NOT PAY IT!"

"Emma, you have to push. There's no choice in the matter. You push or that baby dies. Possibly you too," continued Regina, running out of ideas "Henry needs you!"

Emma finally gave in and nodded weakly.

"Ok," she whispered, shakily, clutching her mother's hand tightly.

"Push," ordered Regina, her tone softening greatly.

Taking a breath, Emma concentrated, pushing with every ounce of strength she had left. She screamed and growled in frustration, holding out as long as she could before

collapsing, tears on her face.

"Another push, Emma."

"You can do it, sweetheart. I know you can!"

Nodding, Emma pushed her sweaty hair away from her head, braced herself, and pushed again, even harder than before. Her screams were full of determination, more so than the excruciating pain.

"You've done this before. For Henry. Think of your love for him. You'll have another child to love very soon, Emma," Snow continued with the reassuring words.

"One more push, Emma. Just one last one. So use all your strength, all your will, everything you have. Ok?" encouraged Regina.

"Ok," said Emma, breathless.

There was no screaming this time. She had no energy left for that. She pressed her hands and feet into the ground, pushing, pushing, and pushing. This had to be the last one. She had no energy for any more. Pain exploded and she knew she was close. One last push and she felt a sudden emptiness.

Exhausted and in agony, she fell back against the makeshift pillow. A smile crossed her face, and her two companions' faces as a baby girl's cries filled the hollow cave.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - This chapter is quite short and I'm not sure whether to end it here... What do you guys think? I did rush the ending a little because I'm going out for my friend's birthday tonight and I wanted to write and post it today for you all :) Thank you for the continued support and I hope you will enjoy this chapter and leave me some feedback 3

* * *

Regina held the crying child in her arms, cradling its head. She looked just like Henry had when she'd adopted him at just six weeks old. More or less. This wasn't her daughter though and she forced herself to walk to Emma's side and carefully lay her against her mother's breast. Snow helped Emma into a sitting position and the blonde kissed her baby's forehead and held her close, a look of pure joy on her face.

"What are you going to name her?" asked Snow, smiling brightly.

"I… I'm going to let you and Regina name her. After everything you've both done for me. It's… only right," replied Emma, tiredly.

"Emma…" Regina trailed off in surprise before giving her a small but sincere smile "Thank you."

"Well, come on then. This little one needs a name. Don't you, darling?" said Emma, looking down at her wide eyes in fascination. With Henry, she had forced herself not to become attached but looking at her daughter now, she wondered how on earth she had ever managed it. The little girl grabbed one of her fingers in an iron grip.

"She needs milk, Em," said Snow, softly.

"Oh… Oh, ok," responded Emma, looking very unsure.

"You need to… uh… lift up your top and let her latch on to your nipple," explained Regina, awkwardly, when Snow seemed unsure. After all, her stepdaughter had never been given the chance to breastfeed…

"I've watched it on the TV. How hard can it be?" said Emma, lifting up the dress and unclipping her bra with only a smidgen of embarrassment. Regina had delivered her baby anyway and Snow was her mother. There was no point in self-consciousness.

Surprisingly, her baby wasn't as difficult as most and closed her tiny mouth around Emma's nipple, sucking rather forcefully for a new born. The blonde moved slightly and the sensation slowly became more familiar and less painful.

Both Regina and Snow stared at her in awe. She was a natural mother. Regina wished she could have breastfed Henry. Maybe their connection would have been stronger, their bond more difficult to break… Snow wished she'd had the chance to raise Emma. The woman had turned out perfectly fine. But without her…

"Have you thought of any names?" questioned Emma, quietly, looking down at the peaceful girl.

"Mollie? Ava? Maria?" suggested Snow.

"Helena…? Uh… Bridget?" chipped in Regina.

"Oh come on, we're not in the Enchanted Forest now," said Emma, making a face "She's not eighty!"

"Carla," offered Snow.

"Too posh," countered Emma.

"Evangeline?" asked Regina. It was a name she'd always wanted to use for her daughters. Back when life was good and simple and peaceful. Back when she had Daniel and her whole life ahead of her. A life she wanted to dedicate to family. They'd spoken about having many children; little girls and little boys who would run around, ride horses, dress up… And all of that had been snatched away with Daniel's heart. She'd not given baby names much thought since then.

"Evie," said Emma a few seconds later "She's called Evie."

"Lovely," smiled Snow, mostly directed at her daughter but slightly in Regina's direction too. She was beginning to accept that the former evil queen had definitely changed at least a little and had the will to change more.

* * *

"Regina," called Emma.

The older woman turned from where she was staring at the cave wall, lost in thought, looking questioningly at the blonde.

"Can you watch Evie for a while? I… I want to get cleaned up, you know," she asked.

"Um… yeah… sure," agreed Regina.

Wrapped in a blanket, the blonde handed her the beautiful baby girl. She instantly brought her close to her body, ensuring her head was safely positioned on the crook of her arm. Snow helped Emma stiffly to her feet and supported her as she half-walked half-stumbled out of the cave, very slowly, out towards the river that she could clean up in.

Regina was surprised when Evie stilled in her arm and blinked up at her with innocent, trusting eyes. _Trust that was entirely misplaced_ thought Regina bitterly. The baby seemed to sense her mood and began to cry.

"Hush, Evie, it's alright," she said, her soothing tone coming surprisingly natural to her, as she rocked her in her arms "You're mommy will be back soon."

The child quietened and Regina looked down at her. She remembered delivering her; watching on in apprehension and fascination as she crowned, one push away from the world. A sudden longing to experience the same thing overcame her. To see new life created in such a wonderfully miraculous way, it was exhilarating. She destroyed lives, she'd never created one. And that, now she thought, was her biggest regret. Not the curse, not anything else. Just that she had never been able to have her own child. And to know it was her fault. Because the dark magic had corrupted her inside, enough so that no child could ever grow within her. Tears slipped from her eyes, and she let them. She cried for the loss of her love, her innocence, her chance at a happy ending. She cried for what she'd allowed herself to become.

"I wish I could take it back," she whispered to Evie, knowing she could never tell anyone else, knowing that she would never remember at such a young age "I'm sorry, for everything."

But maybe she wasn't completely beyond saving. Emma had allowed her to help with the intimate and emotional act of bringing her child into the world. She would never have allowed the Evil Queen to do so… And Snow hadn't protested to leaving Evie temporarily in her care. Henry had hugged her down in the mines; left his birth family to hug _her_. So maybe she could redeem herself and have her happy ending.

"I'm going to try so hard, Evie," she said in her soft, barely audible tone "I'll protect you here, in this place. It's my fault we're here after all. If I hadn't forced Owen to… It doesn't matter now, though. We'll get you off this island very soon, don't you fret."


End file.
